The Genesis Program: {Part 2} The creation of a training program: Conditioning

Conditioning overview

 

Training has to be specific, our goal is body transformation in terms of becoming stronger, more healthier and most importantly creating a change in the body that has a long-term emphasis rather than hopping onto the next training fad and continually failing at improving. Cardiovascular training has to have the same principle of specificity in mind, it has to compliment the foundation being built with efficient resistance training.

Doing fasted treadmills runs first thing in the morning, doing every fitness bootcamp under the sun and starving yourself the whole day only to over indulge later and break you self-esteem even more is not the way to go about this. Even for the more level-headed and educated lifter, cardio programming has to built up over a period based on where you are in your training cycle. .

The background on energy systems

To understand the basics of conditioning you have to understand the body's energy systems.

The Immediate Energy System

This is a short-term energy system that strength athletes are the king of due to it only lasting less than 30 seconds before switching over to the next energy system. This is due to immediate nature of needing explosive power and strength through activation of switching muscles on quickly to produce force and kick some ass. The ATP/CP system utilises adenosine tri-phosphate and creatine phosphate for fuel rather than using oxygen which takes longer to utilise and process into fuel.

The Nonoxidative System

This energy system kicks in at about 15 seconds and reaches full strength at around 30 seconds as it utilises glucose (blood sugar) and glycogen stored in the body's muscles and fades after 2 minutes. This energy pathway produces lactate which is often referred to as the 'burn or pump' by athletes.

The Oxidative System

This energy system takes longer to produce energy for exercise, it takes time to build up  but it does supply longer lasting energy for endurance events through the use of the cardiorespiratory system mainly aimed at targeting fats in the body as the primary fuel source.

So where does that leave us?

For the Genesis Program, the goal is to utilise the immediate and nonoxidative energy systems as the goal is to get stronger, become more explosive and teach the body to program the use of high-threshold motor units and leave them on during the training session. This can only be achieved via compound resistance training and supporting cardiovascular activities to compliment the development of explosive power.

 

 

 

Conditioning parameters will be:

• Short bouts of explosive energy lasting up to 15 seconds
• Minimal rest periods lasting between 30 and 60 seconds
• Multiple sets of exertion
• The use of auto-regulation in knowing what is too little and when to stop. Your body should feel like it has pushed itself but your mind should still be fresh.

Conditioning tools: Where you learn to build the will to fight!

Before I list the conditioning tools that we will be utilizing in the program, one thing will be made clear, and that is this: There will be no jogging or whatever long distance bullshit escapade you can think of. This will be another topic I will write an article on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools of the trade:

Prowler

The prowler is a training tool primarily used for added volume work in a training program. It is incredibly effective in increasing muscular size and strength in the calves, quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, as well as increasing ones fitness and recovery levels. The reason it is so effective is that it relies on the premise of eccentric-less training ideologies.

Complexes

A complex is a series of exercises that either form segments of a bigger lift or are independent exercises performed one after the other in succession. The weight can stay the same or 'stations' can be set up to which the athlete moves from one to the other after the completion of the exercise.

Tabata sets

Tabata sets or intervals made up of 20 second high intensity exertion followed by 10 seconds rest performed for four minutes straight. Two exercises can be paired together and alternated between for the four minutes.

Battle ropes

Battle ropes build tremendous power and cores strength. Powering the body's arms, trunk and utilising the core in virtually every motion of each exercise variation of the ropes increases volume to the working muscles and is incredibly taxing to the cardiovascular system.

Farmers walk
Farmers walk is a functional conditioning tool in terms of it working virtually all the main muscle groups such as legs, forearms, traps, upper back, biceps, abdominals ect. Ideally it is picking up a heavy object and carrying it a defined distance but done with correct posture and with a relative load to one's abilities, it carries over to a host of other lifts and builds tremendous strength and increases an athlete's GPP (General physical preparedness)

 

Sprints
Keeping with training the early energy systems of the body to develop the high-threshold motor units in the body, sprints are effective in a high-intensity training protocol. Where a defined distance is used with a limit on rest periods to keep the heart rate up and the body primed throughout the workout. Sprints can be used as part of speed work before a training session, worked on in terms of sport specificity during the session or used as a conditioning tool for fat loss and overall body power development.

Kettlebells

Kettlebells are an amazing tool to increase work capacity and overall volume to the posterior chain. By utilising the hip hinge motion in a ballistic fashion it taxes the body effectively while developing strength to have a strong carry over to compound lifting.

The third instalment of this series will be the complete program tying in compound and the above cardiovascular elements into an effective training program.